{"id":659170,"date":"2026-05-09T05:01:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T05:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/659170\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T05:01:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T05:01:19","slug":"afl-news-2026-zak-butters-high-contact-video-port-adelaide-v-western-bulldogs-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/659170\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL News 2026: Zak Butters high contact video, Port Adelaide v Western bulldogs results"},"content":{"rendered":"

Western Bulldogs player Joel Freijah said it would be an “honour” to play with Zak Butters<\/a>, should the Port Adelaide<\/a> gun opt to make the move to Whitten Oval next year.<\/p>\n

Butters was back in the spotlight for the wrong reasons after collecting Freijah high in the final term of his side’s agonising two-point loss to the Western Bulldogs<\/a> on Friday night.<\/p>\n

Despite a dominant individual performance, Butters faces a nervous wait for the Match Review Officer’s (MRO) findings, but it seems the two players have no ill-will towards each other after the incident.<\/p>\n

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“We’ll see what happens, whether he stays or comes,” Freijah told the Sydney Morning Herald<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“He’s a great fella, Zakky, and a great player as well.<\/p>\n

“It would be an honour to play with him.<\/p>\n

\"Zak<\/p>\n

Zak Butters leads his team off after their loss to the Western Bulldogs. \u00a0via Getty Images<\/p>\n

“I was in Ballarat, and he’s a Darley boy, so I’ve come across him a few times, and we’ve obviously played against each other.<\/p>\n

“Zak’s a ruthless competitor.<\/p>\n

“It’s great playing against guys like that.”<\/p>\n

The incident added a layer of irony to the contest, as the Bulldogs are touted to be heavily linked to Butters as a primary free-agency target.<\/p>\n

Butters finished the night with 30 disposals against his potential suitors but may face scrutiny from the match review officer for the final term incident.<\/p>\n

While his output was undeniable, Port Adelaide head coach Josh Carr remained cautious regarding the potential suspension.<\/p>\n

\"Zak<\/p>\n

Zak Butters is on notice for this high contact. \u00a0Fox Footy<\/p>\n

“I haven’t watched the replay (but) my initial thoughts are that I don’t think he got him high, but I haven’t had a look at it close enough,” Carr said post-match.<\/p>\n

The hit, which looked to ricochet into Freijah’s jaw, was a couple of centimetres away from a disastrous outcome, given Butters went out of his way to bump his opponent, but the Bulldogs’ player got straight back up and played on.<\/p>\n

“He definitely goes to bump – so if you go to bump, you cop the consequences – whatever happens,” Mark Ricciuto said on Fox Footy post-game.<\/p>\n

“Most of it’s in the chest – I think he’s fine. If he’s unlucky, he might get another fine.”<\/p>\n

This incident may have consequences for Butters and cost him the Brownlow for 2026 as the Port star has had a number of serious incidents in 2026, including being fined for “abusive language” towards an umpire<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Zak<\/p>\n

Zak Butters could be in hot water over his incident in the final quarter. \u00a0AFL Photos via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Earlier in the same match, umpire Daniel Johanson had to be assisted from the ground after a collision<\/a> with Western Bulldogs star Ed Richards in the first quarter.<\/p>\n

With scores tied, it was the Bulldogs that finally found a way forward as Harvey Gallagher snapped a late goal to sink Power hearts for the second week in a row.<\/p>\n

The game finished 10.14 (74) to 10.12 (72), handing the Bulldogs a healthy momentum boost before they head to Marvel Stadium to face Carlton<\/a> next Saturday night.<\/p>\n

Port Adelaide take on the Suns<\/a> on the Gold Coast on Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Western Bulldogs player Joel Freijah said it would be an “honour” to play with Zak Butters, should the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":659171,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-659170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=659170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/659171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=659170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=659170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=659170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}